When I started in 1990 as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, there were few fee-only planners or advisors. Brokers were more prevalent, but I wasn’t interested in selling products I wouldn’t buy myself. I began by creating financial plans for clients, then gradually started managing their investments too.
Throughout my career evolution, here’s what I learned: one-time financial planning doesn’t work because your financial life never stops moving.
Life Doesn’t Wait for Your Annual Meeting
The biggest problem with one-time financial planning is that it denies the reality that planning needs to be continuous and ongoing. While it might be nice to think you could review your finances once every few years and catch up on everything at once, life rarely cooperates.
Tax laws change. You switch jobs. Babies are born. Unexpected expenses pop up. The market moves. None of these things happens on a convenient schedule, and waiting months or years to address them can cost you.
Think of Your Advisor as Your Financial Doctor
Just like a good concierge doctor monitors your health year-round, a financial advisor monitors the financial environment for you. We filter through the noise and alert you to what actually matters for your situation—in real-time, not once every few years.
Accountability Makes the Difference
A financial advisor also functions as a coach and can be in a position to hold your “feet to the fire.” Infrequent reviews may not be enough. Through an ongoing relationship, an advisor can develop a deep understanding of your goals and wishes and guide you more precisely towards those goals.
Financial planning creates structure and accountability. You commit to sharing information about your spending, income, investments, and life changes. With one-time planning, there’s no real commitment on either side. You might cover a lot of ground initially, but years can pass before the next review.
Here are real examples of how ongoing relationships create better outcomes:
- Life Insurance – Most working people don’t have enough coverage. Maybe talking to an agent feels awkward, or thinking about death is uncomfortable. We figure out what you need, show you how to get it, and make sure it actually gets done. Without follow-up, this critical protection often never happens.
- Estate Planning – this task is at the bottom of everyone’s to-do list, but not having your affairs in order as you age can be devastating for both you and your heirs. We help frame the decisions, then make sure beneficiaries are named and trusts are properly set up. One client told me they’d been meaning to update their estate plan for five years—until we scheduled a specific meeting to tackle it together.
- Spending – understanding your spending is critical to the success of any financial plan, regardless of the income level. We have tools to track your spending and compare it to your goals, keeping you on track year after year. This isn’t a one-time exercise; it’s an ongoing adjustment as life changes.
There’s another issue worth considering: you may not be qualified to be your own advisor. Imagine interviewing yourself for the job. What qualifications would you list? If the main reason you’re hiring yourself is because you’re free—think again. Free advice often costs the most in the long run. Even experienced investors commonly fall into costly traps that a qualified advisor can help you avoid while building a disciplined, diversified strategy for long-term success.
Why I Added Investment Management
One reason I moved away from one-time planning and added investment management is that I would prepare an investment plan, only to see a year later that my recommendations were not implemented. One day after experiencing this, I point-blank asked a client if they didn’t like or didn’t agree with my recommendations. The conversation went like this:
Her: “Oh dear no, I had no issues with anything you recommended”
Me: “But why didn’t you follow through?”
Her: “Oh, I don’t know, I guess I never got around to it”.
The client in this case, was worse off for not following my advice. After seeing this happen over and over again, I realized that my clients really WANTED me to implement and manage things. They just weren’t going to get it done otherwise.
“But Do I Really Need Ongoing Financial Planning?”
I bet I can guess what you’re thinking: either “I don’t really need all that much help” or “I’m afraid of what it will cost.”
Here’s the truth: you don’t know how much help you’ll need or when you’ll need it. Financial issues pop up unpredictably—just like you can’t predict when you’ll get sick and need a doctor. Unless you’re willing to devote significant time to studying and staying current, you’re likely missing something.
One benefit of fee-only advice is complete transparency. You see exactly what you’re paying, which can also feel like a negative. But consider this: you may already be paying through:
- Inaction (not being invested when you should be)
- Neglect (missing opportunities)
- Lack of knowledge or expertise
- Hidden fees you can’t see
Even worse, you might be taking too much risk by being underinsured, paying unnecessary taxes, or missing tax-saving opportunities. Without professional advice, it’s hard to know.
Who Gets Priority During a Crisis?
Here’s one final thought: Imagine you’re an advisor with two types of clients—some who check in every few years, and others who work with you continuously.
Then disaster strikes: a pandemic, market crash, or major tax law change.
During these moments, ongoing clients naturally receive immediate attention because we already know their complete situation inside and out. We can act quickly, making time-sensitive decisions without needing to get up to speed first. For occasional clients, we’d need to gather information and rebuild context before we could even start to help, essentially playing catch-up before we can address their actual needs.
This isn’t about playing favorites. It’s about the depth of partnership that comes from working together consistently.
What HTG Offers Instead
This is why our practice focuses on ongoing planning relationships. Clients work with us continuously, not episodically. We manage investments, monitor for tax changes, coordinate with your other professionals, and stay ready to act when opportunities or challenges arise.
Markets go up over time. Being invested consistently almost always beats doing nothing. But more importantly, having a partner who knows your situation and is watching out for you creates peace of mind: that’s hard to quantify.
If you’re considering financial advice, think beyond the one-time plan. Ask yourself: do you want a document, or do you want a partnership? Because your financial life isn’t static, and your planning shouldn’t be either.
If an ongoing partnership sounds like what you’ve been missing, reach out to schedule a complimentary consultation. We’ll discuss your situation and whether working together makes sense for you.